steve kingston, "bbc news," washington. >> for more, i am joined by a senior correspondent for national journal. thank you for coming in. is this what this is really all about. it sounds like a soap opera. there is sex involved, and that is why we are interested in it, or is there more to it? does it matter? >> it sounds like an august scandal in washington where congress is out and they are looking for something to cover. it is november this time. i think that it could be what you see on the surface, which is some people giving into temptation in high places. the mighty have fallen. but if it puts a lot of tension between the f.b.i. and the c.i.a., which they have always had a lot of tension between those two anyway, if you have the white house and congress disagreeing about the time line and who knew what when, this could have a lot of legs. it could be unfortunate for a president just starting out a second term. >> if this really was not an issue of national security but just an affair between two consenting adults, then the f.b.i., there they are, they put out six or seven agents an